Can your cellphone cause cancer? Scientists find definitive link in US and Italian study of rats.

For decades, there had been ideas loosely based on the theory that cell phone radiation or non-ionizing radiation causes cancer. New studies that underwent live-broadcast peer review sessions show that cell phone radiation could play a role in lab rats getting cancer. This study is now sparking debate as to the impact of cell phone radiation on humans.

A pair of studies conducted by the United States National Toxicology Program determined it had “clear evidence” that exposure to radiation can cause heart tumors in male rats. The study also concluded that it found “some evidence” of brain tumors in those male rats being traced back to radiation exposure.

This goes against previous understanding from the U.S. federal government that cell phones cannot cause cancer due to them emitting non-ionizing radiation. Conversely, ionizing radiation from things like CT scans can cause cancer at high enough doses. The understanding was that non-ionizing radiation wasn’t strong enough to break chemical bonds and damage DNA.

The studies also drew attention for the sheer scale of them. The cancers weren’t just found in a handful of mice. The organizations conducting the studies observed 3,000 miles and rats of both sexes for over two years. Thus far, it’s the largest investigation into RF radiation and its potential association with cancer ever conducted. And the United States isn’t the only government studying these effects. A team from the Ramazzini Institute in Italy looked into RF radiation and its effects on nearly 2,500 rats from birth to death.